


Like We’re Lovers

by aumahu



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Businessman Erwin Smith, Eventual Smut, Falling In Love, Fluff, Levi owns a tea shop, M/M, Modern AU, eruri - Freeform, snk, will possibly add more tags i’m new to this lol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-14 15:27:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29793966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aumahu/pseuds/aumahu
Summary: "Why do you act like we're lovers?"In the city of Chicago, Erwin Smith, the chief operating officer of a company, meets a man named Levi Ackerman at a bar on a celebratory evening. After one seemingly short and jubilant night spent together, the both of them are left with feelings of affection and captivation, but also feelings of uncertainty.One in denial. One desperate. Both longing for one another.
Relationships: Levi Ackerman/Erwin Smith
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	Like We’re Lovers

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first ever published fic, and i hope it will be enjoyable to anyone who decides to read it!
> 
> also, my apologies, this chapter is fairly lengthy. :,)

The fluorescent lights adorned the walls high and low of the crowded club, the roaring music tearing through the speakers added to the chaos and flood of bodies scattered around the room. The sound of clattering glasses, cheers and giggles, and feet tapping against the cold, glowing floor filled the ears of every lighthearted person sprawled on couches, chairs—and even the congested dance floor. 

But noise wasn't for everyone. And it certainly wasn't for the single man seated at one of the stools of the abandoned bar, a glass of fresh wine held between his fingers, an exhausted look on his face as he lifted the rim of the glass to his lips, the music flooding his ears. He wanted to be anywhere but here. 

God, why did he set foot in here again? He came here on his own, by his own will, by his own time, all because some persistent acquaintance of his told him this was the best club in downtown Chicago, only a few blocks away from his workplace. Was it his horrible habit of letting his curiosity get the best of him that brought him here? Who knows. 

But what he did know is that he was leaving soon. He couldn't stand the booming music or the laughter of the people surrounding him. It was stuffy, claustrophobic, and he wasn't even mingled with the crowd. 

He set his glass back down on the counter and lifted his head to look at the seemingly slow ticking clock above the assortment of alcohol in front of him. It was nearly midnight. How long has he been here? It's felt like hours when, truly, it's probably only been around ten minutes. He looked back down at his nearing half empty glass of wine. He'll leave once this glass is completely empty. If there was one thing he liked about this club—which wasn't much—it was their damn good alcohol.

On the other hand, some people did really enjoy the fluorescent lights, the clattering glasses, the cheers and giggles—and even the congested dance floor. A man lifted his first glass of whiskey into the air, his two friends lifting theirs to his as well, waiting for the satisfying clinks of their filled glasses to ring out the successful evening. 

"To the new launch! We couldn't have ever done it without each other," the man said, a huge grin taking over his face. His two friends returned the gesture.

"To the new launch!" 

Three glasses clinked against each other, the alcohol contained in them twirling to the sides, a few droplets escaping to the hard floor. The three friends lifted their drinks to their faces, taking a long, slow swig of the burning alcohol, letting out sighs of satisfaction once the cups were now emptied. A light flush gathered around one of the friends' faces. They were a person with oval shaped glasses, their hair loosely tied up in a high ponytail. 

"Ahh, you can count on alcohol to make you feel great!" they said, slamming the glass back down onto the small table between each of their cushioned chairs. "Nothing like having some to congratulate yourself!"

"Hange, if you fall in love with alcohol that quickly, you might be putting yourself in danger," the second friend said, pointing his glass at the person named Hange. 

Hange let out a boisterous laugh, one where if they were in any place but a club, it would've drawn extreme attention. "I can fall in love with alcohol for just one night, don't you think, huh, Erwin?" 

The man who delivered the toast let out a small chuckle, his eyebrows raising. "I'm pretty sure that's what every beginning alcoholic says. I'd listen to Mike on this one."

Mike snickered at Erwin's comment, and Hange sunk back into their chair, staring and twirling their glass at eye level. "You're no fun. Especially with that dumbass, cautious mindset of yours," they said. 

It was no surprise that Erwin was cautious. It was a huge part of his job, although he preferred to say he was more of a risk taker, just with many possible outcomes in mind when he took those risks. Planning, observing, gambling—it's what made him so good at his occupation when it came to leadership. 

Hange, however, was the biggest, most free-spirited risk taker Erwin has ever met. Nothing stopped them from jumping in. Some people probably mistaken it as just idiocy, which he supposed was partly true. Mike—he was tied in there somewhere. Just a simple man having to suffer the actions of his coworkers.

"Sitting here is quite boring, don't you think?" Erwin said. A waitress came up from behind him, leaning over to refill his glass of whiskey. He nodded a thank you, and the waitress smiled back at him, then continued to make her way towards Hange and Mike's glasses.

"And what do you suppose we do, cautious dumbass?" Hange took a big swig of their drink, gulping it down in a matter of seconds. "I'm totally fine right here as long as they keep refilling my drink."

Erwin set his glass to the side, then began to stand on his feet. He slipped his suit jacket down his arms and placed it on the back of his chair. "Mike, let's go to the floor and have Hange watch our drinks, since they're so fine with keeping their ass on the couch." 

Hange scrambled to get their stuff sorted, setting their drink down on the table. "Woah, woah, woah, Mr. Smith. Not cool," they retorted, slipping their jacket off as well. "If anything, keep Mike's ass here. He'll watch our stuff." 

Erwin turned to look at Mike. He shrugged, staying put in his seat. "It doesn't bother me. You two go on," he said, tilting his head toward the dance floor. Erwin gave him a pat on the shoulder, giving him an exaggerated nod to show him his gratitude. They both cracked a smile.

Before he knew it, Erwin was being urgently pushed by Hange towards the dance floor, excited noises and rambles coming out of their mouth. The music was booming vociferously, flooding his ears with the DJ's fast tempo playing. 

A light coat of sweat immediately began to cling to his skin as his body was surrounded by others'. People bumped into him and brushed shoulders as they lost themselves in the chain of music and the movement around them, not giving a damn about anyone's personal space. 

Hange was all for it, shouting along with the music and even singing into the faces of the people around them, swaying arms, hips, stomping their legs. Erwin didn't even realize or remember when he began to lose all sense of himself, joining the horde and their shifting. 

His large figure moved freely, fully immersing in the lambent lights and ricocheting music tearing through the atmosphere. He let go of his sense of time, letting one song play after other. At some point he lost Hange in the flood of bodies taking over the dance floor and stopped in his tracks, standing still to take a breather from all the movement and yelling he had previously done. 

Erwin's breath was short. He didn't know he could bring so much energy being in a large crowd, messing up lyrics to a song and flapping his arms and legs around. He was beaming from the exhilaration, but he needed to find Hange before they did something completely stupid and out of the ordinary.

Dear god, they're probably passed out right about now, Erwin thought to himself. The last thing he needed was an overly drunk, passed-out-on-the-dance-floor Hange. He didn't even want to envision what kind of catastrophe that would lead to. 

He pushed his way through the crowd, letting out short apologies for messing up an individual's dance or nudging a little too hard into someone. His eyes scanned the area. For once, he was glad to have his height of six foot two. It was useful for situations like this. God forbid, Hange should be grateful for his height and physique as well. Without it, they would've been lost and never found a long time ago.

"Hange! Hange!" Erwin's hollering did absolutely nothing for him. It was easily gulped down by the cheers and chants of the other clubbers, along with the seemingly increased volume of the music. He helplessly browsed the heads of the people, hoping to find a brunette who was excessively louder than the others.

After a few moments, he started to reach the back edge of the dance floor, wondering if Hange possibly decided to step off and grab another drink or something of the sort. As he pushed through more bodies, he felt a wave of relief wash over him when he saw a familiar face with glasses laughing at the person beside them. Erwin quickened up his pace, trying to weave through the immense amount of people holding drinks and dancing about.

"Hey! Hange!" he shouted, trying to grab the smallest bit of attention from Hange, but they seemed completely immersed in their surroundings. "Hange, over here!"

Not a single glance was directed Erwin's way, and before he could push any further to reach out and grab their shoulder, Hange began following a person to another side of the dance floor. Any trace of Erwin's relief immediately got replaced with frustration as he called out to them one last time.

"Hange, can you please—"

Erwin stopped dead in his tracks, ignoring the various intrusions of other people's bodies hurdling into him. 

As Hange moved to their left, the bar came into view behind them, a small figure seated at one of the seats, a glass of wine gently placed between his five fingertips. The figure had nearing solid coal-colored hair, it shining lustrously in the pooling lights inundating the club. All Erwin could do in that moment is stare admirably at the person captivating his eyes, and he felt a surge of warmth envelop the entirety of his body. Except this time, it wasn't caused by a whole deluge of people. 

It was caused by one singular man.

All of his recent concerns regarding Hange disappeared completely from his thoughts, his feet automatically taking him to the bar in pure curiosity of this stranger before him. 

He made his way through the rest of the dance floor and across the large room all the way to the bar. The closer he got, the more his heart quickened its pace, and the more his patience to talk to this person disintegrated. 

"A drink please. Same as his." 

The ravened hair man looked up from his cup, his eyes meeting with Erwin's. Erwin was almost taken aback as he finished adjusting in his seat, just realizing up close how small this man was. The man looked away from Erwin's gaze and back to the wine waiting to be finished in his glass. Erwin, however, didn't stop staring. 

He was in utter awe of the beauty this person withheld. It took all of his willpower not to reach a hand out and touch his porcelain-like skin. He wanted to run another hand through the light cut of his black hair and feel the softness of the undercut that seemed to add an even bigger sense of attractiveness. 

Erwin wanted him to look up at him one more time with those eyes that resembled the melting of snow in the beginning of spring. They were piercing, even if they were seen as a slightly dull color in a painting, he could feel the fierceness of them. Like clouds of burning smoke, they took his breath away.

The man was wearing a rather simple outfit. A white colored shirt with two top buttons loosened was tucked into his black dress pants, and a large overcoat draping to his knees matched the dark color of his pants. Erwin couldn't help but spot some of the earrings dangling from his ears, not realizing how much more his heart could quicken at the sight of a man with piercings. The silvery metal complimented his eyes and overall handsome face. 

"I couldn't help but notice that your drink is almost gone," Erwin said, a smile developing across his face. At his words, the smaller man looked back up from his glass for a second time. A more stern and irritated facial expression was directed towards him. Erwin wasn't phased by it at all. He didn't mind. In fact, he was already so entranced by this person that he didn't really realize the silent signs he was giving him. 

The bartender came back with another glass filled with the same colored wine as the stranger. He grabbed it, thanking the bartender, and then proceeded to slide it over to the man, the rim of the glass coming in contact with his hand. 

"What is this?" the stranger asked. His tone was somewhere on the border of distasteful and inquisitive. 

"A gift. From me," Erwin responded. "I said I couldn't help but notice your drink is almost gone."

The man scoffed, his lips curving in a light smile. Did people smiling ever make Erwin's breath hitch like this? He couldn't think of the last time he'd impulsively approached a person in public he felt attracted to. God, the last time he's probably done that was back in his college days, where everyone made silly impulsive decisions. 

He watched as the man finished his last sip of his original glass of wine and went to reach for the second one, palming it with both his hands. Holy fuck. His hands were small. Incredibly small. Erwin bet just one of his hands could completely engulf his like it was a Thanksgiving meal. They looked delicate, soft, even elegant as he drew the edge of the glass from his lips.

"What do you like? I'll get something for you," the man said, peering back up at Erwin. 

"Don't you think buying me a drink defeats the purpose of me getting you one? And besides, I'm not a wine person. I prefer whiskey," Erwin said. 

After responding to the man's offer, he ordered himself his own glass of whiskey from the bartender. As he waited for his drink, he couldn't stop eyeing the man sitting so close next to him. When he went to go reach for his drink given by the bartender he was slightly disappointed to look away.

"What's your name?" Erwin asked, lifting his own glass to his lips now. There was a bit of hesitation before the man answered.

"Levi."

"I'm Erwin. It's nice to meet you, Levi." Erwin smiled, knowing damn well the other man didn't directly ask for his own name, but he was hoping his name would linger in his mind for awhile. 

"You know, Erwin," Levi said, taking another small sip of his wine. "I was just about to leave, but your little gift prevented me from doing so." Erwin chuckled at his statement. Surely, the man was trying to hint at him to leave him be, but he couldn't. Something kept him right in this bar stool, infatuated with this stranger.

"I'm glad I caught you before you left," he said, smiling down into those gorgeously captivating eyes. This time, he was pleasantly surprised at the man's reaction. 

Whatever demeanor he was trying to withhold broke in that small moment. The coldness he was giving him faded away, and instead he was met with raised eyebrows, his body tensing up but also seeming to relax while knowing that someone was interested in his presence. 

"Couldn't say I feel the same way," he replied, but the look on his face begged to differ, and Erwin felt his chest grow even warmer at his newly found openness. 

The two of them sat together, embracing in small conversations as they finished the drinks in their hands. Erwin kept insisting on purchasing more beverages for the both of them for he didn't want this encounter to ever end. He liked watching as Levi gradually became more comfortable with him, even asking some of his own questions to Erwin to show some interest in him. Erwin could feel the heat on his face getting greater, and he wasn't sure if it was because of Levi or because of the amount of alcohol he was letting into his system. 

"Where are you from?" Erwin asked, placing an elbow onto the bar's counter.

"What?" Levi asked, his face scrunching up in confusion. "You're mumbling." 

He was? Erwin didn't even realize. He cleared his throat and decided to try again, repeating his question: "Where are you from?"

"I live near Lincoln Park," Levi answered. He wasn't sure why he was answering Erwin's question or giving the answer to his living place, but if he was being honest, he wanted to ask where Erwin lived as well. He couldn't help but be fond of the broad-shouldered, blonde man that approached him out of the blue. It wouldn't hurt him for one night to just relish in the company of another person. Besides, Erwin seemed to have nothing but good intentions. He was friendly. 

"Ahh, Lincoln Park. I've been there a billion times and never seen you before," Erwin said. He lifted his glass to his face, almost missing his mouth when he went to take a drink. Levi laughed, a good hard laugh, and Erwin immediately paused from swallowing the rest of his whiskey. 

"The population is, what? Around two million people?" Levi let out a short snicker, staring down at his empty glass of wine. "Of course you've never seen me before." 

Erwin set his beverage back down beside him. "I'm sure I would've been able to notice such a beautiful person." 

Levi stopped his laughing and looked up from his cup, right into Erwin's charmingly ambitious blue eyes. Erwin didn't say anything back, didn't even crack a smile; just stared directly back at Levi. "You... Do you know what you just said?" Levi asked.

"Yeah, I called you beautiful. Did you not pick that up, or am I mumbling again?" This time, Erwin's face did light up in a smile, his cheeks flushing. Levi looked away again, slightly shaking his head and letting out a soft laugh at Erwin's remark. There was no hesitation in his words at all, and he didn't know how to feel about the way this man he just met only a few minutes ago was treating him.

"Maybe you should be more careful about what you say," Levi said, now looking back at Erwin.

"Why? Do you think I'm lying?" 

"No. No, not at all. That's not what I meant," Levi said back. He reached a hand up to his ear and started fidgeting with his earrings. Erwin watched him, mesmerized as his hands twirled between the metal studs and hoops dangling off of his earlobe. It appeared to be a shy habit out of his, fiddling with his jewelry when something came about that made him embarrassed or flustered.

"You really are, though," Erwin said, turning to the bartender to signal for another drink. 

Levi eyed the glass being set in front of Erwin, trying his hardest not to roll his eyes at how many drinks he was ordering for himself. Of course, Erwin was offering to buy some for Levi, but he refused and said his one gift was quite enough for him. Levi's only had two and a half glasses tonight, his last one still sitting in his hands. Meanwhile, Erwin seemed to be downing anything his money could come across.

"You're ridiculous," Levi jeered. 

Maybe he just couldn't admit to himself that he was rather entertained by Erwin, intrigued by him even. The both of them sat there for a long period of time, exchanging laughs and short stories, and Levi felt like he was unfolding his life in front of a stranger that almost didn't feel like a stranger at all. What time was it? The fifteen minutes he planned on staying here extended to nearly an hour. Two hours? Three hours? He really couldn't tell how long he's been here, smiling and sharing drinks with Erwin. 

Though, he could say he was fairly impressed with the number of whiskeys Erwin was consuming. 

"The dance floor." 

"What?" 

"The dance floor. We should go," Erwin said, grabbing onto Levi's hand and standing up from his chair. "I want to dance with you." Levi went wide-eyed, but his hand stayed clutched with Erwin's, allowing him to slip him off of the bar stool and towards the dance floor ahead of them. 

"Hey, hold on, Erwin, I never said—" Erwin interrupted Levi by tugging his hand more forcefully to drag him to the crowd on the move. The music grew even louder as they approached the entrance to the dance floor, and he could barely hear Erwin yell back from in front of him:

"I know you want to dance with me too."

Levi looked up, his head tilted back slightly to have a full view of Erwin's face peering down at him. Erwin squeezed his hand, and Levi squeezed it back after emitting a lighthearted laugh. "I'm not good at dancing," Levi said, running a hand through his hair. 

"Don't worry, me neither," Erwin replied. 

He began to tug Levi back over to the dance floor, but they stopped for a moment to let Levi remove his jacket and place it on a nearby sofa. When he turned back around, Erwin found himself eyeing him, staring hard at the sleeves tight around Levi's biceps and the remainder of his torso. He was quite built for a man his size, but still had a rather small figure compared to Erwin. 

Erwin felt his heart start to pick up its pace again, his chest returning to that familiar warmth and heaviness. He needed to stop ogling Levi before he noticed. Perhaps, he already did notice a long time ago. 

Levi placed his hand back into Erwin's, and his heart only began to beat even faster at the light touch Levi gave him. He took that as his cue to start leading him back to the dance floor. 

The both of them made their way through the jumble of bodies, pushing through small crevices to try to get to a good spot. Levi looked around apprehensively, watching everyone mingle together, grabbing onto each other and dancing side to side. He had almost forgotten how much a large crowd made him nervous, and he almost tugged Erwin back towards him to tell him he didn't want to be here anymore, that he wanted to leave.

We could've just stayed at the bar. I liked the bar, he thought to himself. 

"Erwin, I don't think—"

Levi lost track of his words when Erwin pulled him close to him, beaming down at him as the music blasted in front of them, filling the congested space with shouting and song lyrics. And that was when Erwin made his first move. Levi was taken aback from how quickly Erwin adapted to the music, and he had to hold himself back from laughing at how ridiculous Erwin looked, but he could tell he was enjoying himself, and he wanted to contribute to that too. 

The black-haired man started small, mirroring a few of the moves that Erwin was doing himself. He mainly just swayed back and forth, his feet moving in rhythm with the music. Once he started to relax more and let loose, he was interrupted by someone slamming into his back, and he was pushed forward right into Erwin's chest from all the chaos going on around them. 

"Woah there," Erwin said, his hand resting on one of Levi's hips to try to prevent him from falling over.

"Shit, sorry some bastard behind me just— God." Levi was easily stumbling over his own words. "I told you I suck ass at dancing. I don't know what to do." 

Erwin laughed at Levi's sputtering, and Levi's face shot up to give him a slight glare. It wasn't funny to him. It was embarrassing.

"No one cares, Levi. I especially don't. Just have fun," Erwin said, trying to get Levi to relax again. "Here, I'll help a little bit."

Erwin nudged at Levi's hip from where his hand was resting after the stumble he just performed. He moved to the music, taking a step to the right and guiding Levi along side him. They were close to each other, incredibly close, and Levi could barely hear the lyrics spilling out of Erwin's mouth, but he could feel his breath and the warmness of his body heat. His lips curved in an intimate smile. He allowed Erwin to continue navigating his body with his for a solid few minutes, and he steadily began to move in his own ways, gaining more confidence and becoming more comfortable. 

"There you have it!" Erwin exclaimed. He made sure Levi could hear him over the people enclosing on them. Levi laughed awkwardly at Erwin's words of encouragement, feeling absolutely absurd as he started moving on his own. 

His eyes drifted to a woman dancing near them, noticing a certain way she was dancing with her own partner. She swayed her hips, her back against him and an arm reached out to wrap around the back of his neck. They both appeared to be having fun, and he wondered if he could possibly follow her example and try it with Erwin. Sure, why not? No more uptight Levi.

Levi twisted his body around and backed up against Erwin, earning a slight jolt of his own body in surprise. He lifted his arm and could barely graze a finger past the back of his neck. He was too short. Erwin was considerably taller than him by a foot, and Levi found himself having to stand on his toes a little to even get to the position he wanted to be in. It was frustrating. He could feel the vibrations of Erwin's chest against the back of his head as he chuckled. 

"Don't laugh at me," Levi sneered. 

"I'm not laughing at you. You're just too damn cute," Erwin chided. "Keep doing whatever you're doing."

Whatever courage Levi worked up to even attempt to dance with Erwin almost faded away in that moment. He was unremarkably embarrassed, but he thought maybe Erwin was too under the influence to really mind or feel bothered by Levi's clumsy movements. He decided to give it another shot.

Levi started shuffling his feet to the side, now taking more of the lead. He started a little offbeat, but gradually became used to the music again that blared and shook the floor beneath them. His hand trailed down from Erwin's neck and was placed on his shoulder, pulling it a little to force him to follow his steps. At this point, Erwin had his hand planted at Levi's hip again, and he wasn't afraid to tug on that either. 

Leaving his stern look of focus behind, Levi started to smile again, and he only started smiling even bigger when Erwin grabbed his hand and raised it in the air, twirling him around in some silly waltz-fashioned dance. They both laughed at each other, not paying any attention to the other people doing their own dances around them.

It felt like just the two of them on a huge dance floor playing deafening electric music in a city of over two million people. 

They watched each other as the lights reflected off of their eyes, their skin glowing from the numerous multicolor spotlights above their heads. Erwin didn't think he'd ever meet someone so enchanting, someone who doubtlessly made his breathing stop and his heart move at speeds he didn't even deem possible. He wanted to stay here on this floor with Levi for as long as he possibly could, relishing in his existence. He never wanted to stop staring, admiring his eyes and the sleek hair that was now getting slightly soaked from the beads of sweat developing on his face. 

He didn't want to leave his side in fear he'd never encounter him again. 

"Levi, do you want to go somewhere else?" 

Those eight words seemed to stop every movement going on in the vast club, and both Levi and Erwin stopped their dancing in the midst of a wave of bodies flooding the dance floor. In a matter of seconds, they returned to gather their belongings, grasping onto each other's hands as they made their way to the exit of the club in downtown Chicago.


End file.
